Training Day
by Ranger's Only Girl
Summary: In Dimitri's POV, taken from book #1. Dimitri catches Rose in a very compromising situation...what's this new feeling that keeps popping up when Rose gets attention from other guys lately?
1. Part 1

**A/N:** So I was rereading the first VA book at around 12 last night before going to bed when all of a sudden I came to these scenes in the book and just absolutely HAD to do Dimitri's POV. I know I'm supposed to be finishing up The Banquet, but I just got this sudden urge to write about this and couldn't stop until I finished it. It's actually supposed to have a whole other part to it but I wasn't quite done with that yet so I just decided to post it as a double shot. Hopefully I'll have the second part done in a few hours. Don't forget to review and let me know what you guys think, I always really appreciate it!!!

**Disclaimer:** Anything you recognize belongs to Richelle Mead

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Over the past three weeks Rose and I had developed a routine. Early in the morning before her usual school time practices we'd have workout sessions for about an hour. I started with the basics: running, running and more running. During my time as a student, my instructor and mentor Galina had instilled in me the importance of stamina. At the time, I felt much the same as I'm sure Rose did, that I'd needed to learn to throw kicks and punches in order to survive. Although technique was important too, Galina had taught me it was stamina that gave you the strength to use those techniques for an extended amount of time. Many underestimated the strength of Strigoi, and I wanted to make sure Rose wasn't one of them.

Early one morning, I was in the small gym where Rose and I had been meeting for our daily practice sessions. I usually always arrived early to set up whatever materials we used that day, but finally catching on to Rose's schedule, I had been smart enough to bring a book while I waited for her to roll out of bed and run over in order not to be late. After our session the night before, I had noticed someone had brought in a CD player, so this morning I took full advantage of that. When Rose walked in I was rereading one of my favorite western novels and listening to a favorite 80's mix of mine.

I knew exactly when she walked into the room, a fact that surprised me and bothered me for some reason. Instead of acknowledging her I continued reading as she walked up to me and slung her bag on the ground. From my peripheral vision, I saw her crinkle her nose as she said, "Whoa, Dimitri. I realize this is actually a current hit in Eastern Europe right now, but do you think we could maybe listen to something that wasn't recorded before I was born?"

Without moving my head up I flicked my eyes toward her and said, "What does it matter to you? I'm the one who's going to be listening to it. You'll be outside running."

She made a face at me and began stretching her hamstring, placing her foot on the bar that ran around one of the walls. "Hey," she asked, moving on to the next leg, "what's with all the running, anyway? I mean, I realize the importance of stamina and all that, but shouldn't I be moving on to something with a little hitting? They're still killing me in group practice."

"Maybe you should hit harder," I replied drily, still looking down at my book.

"I'm serious."

"Hard to tell the difference." I finally gave up on my book and set it down, still sprawled in my chair. "My job is to get you ready to defend the princess and defeat dark creatures, right?"

"Yup."

I decided to throw a curveball at her. "So tell me this: suppose you manage to kidnap her again and take her off to the mall. While you're there, a Strigoi comes at you. What will you do?"

"Depends on what store we're in." I just looked at her. I was attempting to teach her something, but of course she just _had_ to be a smartass. I wondered if this was how Galina felt in the beginning with me.

"Fine. I'll stab him with a silver stake." Expecting an answer along those lines, I sat up and crossed my legs. "Oh?" I said, raising my eyebrows. "Do you have a silver stake? Do you even know how to use one?"

She looked away from me and scowled at the wall, annoyed I had stumped her. I barely managed to hold back a smile.

After a minute she said, "Okay. I'll cut his head off."

"Ignoring the fact that you don't have a weapon to do that, how will you compensate for the fact that he may be a foot taller than you?"

She straightened up from her stretch, and I could tell by the look on her face that she was annoyed. "Fine, then I'll set him on fire."

"Again, with what?"

"All right, I give up. You've already got the answer. You're just messing with me. I'm at the mall and I see a Strigoi. What do I do?"

I looked at her seriously, not blinking then said, "You run."

Her face twisted in frustration and she took a deep breath as if to control herself from throwing something at me. It was harder to repress the grin this time but luckily she turned away to finish stretching so she didn't see it finally stretch across my face. To make her feel better and hopefully encourage her to keep working harder, I offered to run with her once she was done stretching. She looked surprised at my offer but didn't say anything as we set out into the chilly October evening. It only got colder as the sun sank lower and lower in the sky, and I was thankful for the warm sweatshirt I had on. Noticing her heavy breathing, I slowed my pace a bit to match hers so we could stay together.

Once I slowed down a bit for her though, it seemed she had a new burst of energy all of a sudden because she began running faster. It was almost as if she didn't like the fact that I'd had to slow down to match her pace. Whatever the reason, she kept at her faster pace for the next couple of laps.

When we reached the third-to-last loop, a couple of novices passed by, preparing to go to the same group practice Rose would soon be at. I could see them all admiring her as we ran and for some reason it really annoyed me. "Good form, Rose!" one of the guys shouted. She grinned and waved to him, which only annoyed me further.

"You're slowing down," I snapped, causing her to jerk her gaze from the guys. The harshness in my voice startled her as well as me. "Is this why your times aren't getting any faster? You're easily distracted?"

Seemingly embarrassed, she increased her speed once more and concentrated on running. I couldn't say the same for myself though. For the rest of our run, I couldn't stop myself from thinking about my reaction and why I'd even had that sort of reaction...

We finally finished our twelfth and final lap, and when I checked, I found we'd shaved two minutes off her best time. "Not bad, huh?" She crowed when we headed back inside for cool-down stretches. "Looks like I could get as far as the Limited before the Strigoi got me at the mall. Not sure how Lissa would do."

"If she was with you, she'd be okay." She looked up in surprise at my comment, which made me smile and I realized it was the first real complement I'd given her since we began our training sessions.

All of a sudden her expression contorted into one filled with excruciating pain and her eyes went blank.

"Rose? Rose, what's wrong? " I kept calling her name to no avail, then all of a sudden awareness shot back into her eyes. Without any kind of word or explanation to me she took off out of the gym like a shot. If I hadn't just gotten done working out with her, I would have thought she hadn't run at all with how fast and how hard she was running. I finally caught up and ran alongside her, asking her what was wrong and trying to figure out what was going on. It was like she didn't hear me. She just continued running towards the middle of campus and when we veered towards the dorms I suddenly knew. Something must have happened to Lissa, which would explain how she'd acted earlier. A second later I knew I was right when I saw Lissa running towards us, her face streaked with tears.

We both jerked to a stop and Rose immediately began questioning her. "What's wrong? What happened?" she demanded, clutching Lissa's arms. She couldn't answer, instead just flung her arms around Rose and sobbed into her chest. Rose began stroking her hair, trying to comfort and calm at the same time. Not knowing what was wrong, I went into Guardian mode and continuously scanned the area for any possible threat, while also watching the girls and waiting for Lissa's explanation.

It wasn't until half an hour later, crammed in Lissa's dorm room that I got my answer. We had been joined by Headmistress Kirova and the dorm hall monitor, not to mention the many girls that had accumulated in the hall, wondering what all of the commotion was about. Natalie, Lissa's roommate pushed her way through to where we were standing and gasped in horror at the sight before us.

Shock and disgust showed on almost everyone's faces as we stared at Lissa's bed. There was a fox on the pillow. Its coat was reddish-orange, tinged in white. It looked so soft and cuddly that it could have been a pet, perhaps a cat, something you'd hold in your arms and snuggle with.  
Aside from the fact that its throat had been slit. The inside of the throat looked pink and jellylike. Blood stained that soft coat and had run down onto the yellow bedspread, forming a dark pool that spread across the fabric. The fox's eyes stared upward, glazed, over with a sort of shocked look about them. Lissa stared at it, her face deathly pale, and took a few steps toward it; her hand involuntarily reached out and I saw in her expression she wanted to help it. There was no helping this fox though. My face hardened, and I could feel the anger running through me. I couldn't fathom who would ever do something like this to Lissa as a prank.

Off to the side, Rose gently took Lissa's hand and steered her away from the gruesome scene. I took a closer look at Rose, and she seemed to be deep in thought. All of a sudden I remembered back to when we had first delivered Rose and Lissa back to the Academy, how Rose continually insisted that they hadn't just left on a whim, that Lissa was actually in danger. I had been skeptical at first but the dead fox on the bed in front of me was factual proof that something was very wrong. I couldn't catch their whispered conversation, only the tone of voice but I still continued to watch them. At one point I heard Rose's voice turn sharp as she said something to a tearful Lissa. She tightened her grip on Lissa's arm making her flinch, and continued speaking to her in a low but firm tone. Finally Lissa nodded, and my attention was pulled back to the bed by Kirova.

"Get this cleaned up," she snapped to the matron. "And find out if anyone saw anything."

Knowing Lissa needed Rose for support, I hadn't said anything to Rose about her not technically being allowed to be here because of her suspension, nor did I say anything about it to anyone else. Someone finally noticed though, and I was ordered to take Rose away, no matter how much she begged and pleaded with them to stay with Lissa.

I walked her back to the novice's dorm in silence, not speaking until we were almost there.

"You know something. Something about what happened. Is this what you meant when you told Headmistress Kirova that Lissa was in danger?"

"I don't know anything. It's just some sick joke." Remembering back to her whispered conversation in Lissa's dorm, I knew she had to be hiding something.

"Do you have any idea who'd do it? Or why?"

She seemed to consider this, but eventually replied, "No, no clue."

Feeling a bit frustrated I said, "Rose, if you know something, tell me. We're on the same side. We both want to protect her. This is serious."

She spun around then, taking her anger over the fox out on me. "Yeah, it is serious. It's all serious. And you have me doing laps every day when I should be learning to fight and defend her! If you want to help her, then teach me something! Teach me how to fight. I already know how to run away."

I regarded her calmly during her outburst, not letting her see what I was thinking. It was easy to see how much this had affected her, and the helplessness she felt at not being able to do anything for her friend was written all over her face.

When she finished though, I simply beckoned her forward like she hadn't said anything. "Come on. You're late for practice."

She left for practice and I headed back to my room, deep in thought. The resolve she felt showed through clearly in her outburst. Recalling her passion and determination, I finally decided she had earned an early reprieve. We would start the real physical training tomorrow. Now was a good time to begin planning what exactly we'd be doing since I had some free time.

At this point, I had just made it to the entrance of the staff wing of the dorms when someone called out to me. I turned around to find another guardian I only knew by sight approaching me.

"Guardian Belikov, Headmistress Kirova wants to see you right away. She said it's urgent."

I thanked him and with a swift nod in my direction, he jogged off. With a sigh, I headed off to talk to the headmistress, most likely about the grisly discovery we had just made in Lissa's room. I'd have to plan Rose's new torturous curriculum later.


	2. Part 2

**A/N:** Here's the last part of my double shot! Hope you like it, and don't forget to review =)

**Disclaimer:** Everything you recognize belongs to Richelle Mead (duh!)

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Later that night I made my way to the novice's dorms in search of Rose. I bypassed the common room that was filled with Dhampir and Moroi students alike and headed towards the end of the hall and around the corner. When I reached her door, I knocked a few times then waited. Getting no response, I tried again only to have the same result. At this time of night, it was after dinner. Because of her suspension, I knew Rose should be in her room, and although I didn't see any kind of light peeking out from beneath her door I knew it was too early for her to be asleep. Rolling my eyes, I retraced my steps and headed to the lounge figuring she had snuck out and would be hanging out with friends until she was caught.

When I entered, I was blasted with the sound of music reverberating over the speakers and people having shouted conversations over the noise. I walked past an air hockey table, where two guys were in an intense battle surrounded by others who cheered them on. Another group of two guys and two girls were playing pool, and I grinned when I saw one of the girls hit the eight ball into a pocket to win the game. She and her friend high fived each other then both went around to the other side of the table where the guys were standing and each held out a hand. Glowering, the guys reached into their pockets, and when they took them out they each slapped a five dollar bill into the girls' hands. Trying not to laugh as I passed by, I quickly scanned the rest of the room but didn't see her. Shaking my head as I walked out, I started to head towards the Moroi dorms thinking I would try Lissa's room next. That girl was going to be running SO many laps tomorrow for skipping out on her punishment! As I made my way down the hall I just happened to see something out of the corner of my eye. Turning quickly in that direction, I just barely caught a glimpse of what looked to be familiar dark brown hair disappearing behind a door leading to a back stairwell.

Though not knowing for sure if it was Rose, I decided to follow anyway. I quickly followed down the hall, slowly and quietly opening the door to make sure I wouldn't be seen or heard. I could hear footsteps echoing down the stairwell so I quickly followed. As I stealthily descended, I peered over the railing and again saw a glimpse of hair, but this time it was shorter. Seeing the head belonged to a guy, I stopped, confused, until I saw a door open next to him and a feminine looking hand shoot out and grab his wrist. With a giggle and flash of the same familiar brown hair I recognized for sure this time, the guy was pulled through the doorway. As the door shut behind them, my chest tightened. Telling myself I just _had_ to get to the bottom of this, though I couldn't give myself a better excuse or reason why other then the one I already had readymade, I quickly descended to the fourth floor where I had seen the two exit the stairwell.

I finally reached the door and with a deep breath to calm my suddenly pounding heart I pushed it open. Poking my head out, I turned my head first one way down the hall then the other. Seeing nothing, I stepped out into the deserted hall.

I didn't know exactly where she'd gone but I figured I'd try a few of the empty lounges. After about twenty minutes of searching to no avail, I came upon a closed door towards the end of the hall. This floor was, for the most part uninhabited due to the small amount of novices. Like I had just seen above, they all chose the more popular sixth floor lounge because it was better equipped with activities to pass the time, like the pool table and the air hockey table, whereas this room if I remembered correctly was infinitely smaller and now only contained a couple of old couches. I would've bypassed it altogether if I hadn't noticed a faint trace of light peeking out underneath the threshold. As I neared, I could hear muffled feminine giggles. I crept closer, and gently placed my ear against the door.

"Don't." I jumped away startled, thinking somehow whoever was in there knew I was outside the door before I realized it had been directed to someone else in the room. I placed my ear back to the door.

"You want to," said another, more masculine voice. "I can tell."

"No, of course not," replied the first voice.

"You act like you have. You got excited when I was by your neck."

"You're a good kisser. Don't you think everyone would know if I was giving blood?" My mouth dropped open. I knew that voice. And I did not like where this conversation was headed.

"Unless you weren't doing it before you left. You did it while you were gone, didn't you? You fed Lissa." The second speaker had confirmed my suspicion about Rose being the feminine voice on the other side of the door, but that didn't ease any of the irritation I felt at finding her disobeying her probation, not to mention this other unidentified feeling I felt bubbling up inside of me…

"Of course not," Rose repeated.

"It was the only way. You didn't have feeders. Oh, man." This I knew was actually the truth. I remembered back to that first night in Portland when we had found Rose and Lissa. Looking up into the window of the apartment they had been renting, I could just make out the silhouettes of two figures, one bent over really close to the other. At the time I hadn't been positive, but once I managed to catch Rose I saw the bite marks and the blood myself before she had managed to quickly hide her neck underneath her hair.

"She found some," Rose continued to lie. "Plenty of humans are into it."

"Sure." I could hear the skepticism in the speaker's voice.

"I'm not a blood whore." Rose snapped. I cringed, the crude term hitting close to home. I heard movement, as if someone was shifting around on furniture.

"But you _want_ to. You like it. All you dhamp girls do." I bristled at that, not liking the false stereotype being used to include Rose.

"Stop it." Her voice came across more gently this time, and I heard more movement going on. "I told you, I'm not like that. But if you want something to do with your mouth, I can give you some ideas."

Red hot emotion burst through my entire body, and I tightened my fists and gritted my teeth. This had gone on long enough. As I straightened, the masculine voice started to say something in a voice way too interested for my liking. I grabbed the knob and slammed the door open, my eyes immediately finding the two figures lying horizontally on a couch against the wall. They sprang apart at the sound of my entrance and I was briefly satisfied at the look of pure terror on the guys' face when he saw me. I quickly strode across the room and jerked him off of his feet by his shirt.

Looking into his eyes, I gave him my deadliest glare and barked, "What's your name?"

Terror held him like a vice, causing him to stumble over his words. "J-Jesse, sir. Jesse Zeklos, sir."

"Mr. Zeklos, do you have permission to be in this part of the dorm?"

"No, sir."

Now on to what I cared about more specifically. I asked, "Do you know the rules about male and female interactions around here?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then I suggest you get out of here as fast as you can before I turn you over to someone who will punish you accordingly. If I ever see you like this again"-at this point I pointed to Rose, who cowered on the couch-"_I_ will be the one to punish you. And it will hurt. A lot. Do you understand?" I snarled.

He gulped, eyes wide as he replied, "Yes, sir!"

"Then _go_." My voice had gone deadly quiet. I reluctantly released my grip, and before he had even touched the ground it seemed, he made a beeline for the door and was gone before I had fully turned to watch his escape.

I turned back around to face Rose, ready to lay into her when my head fully registered the fact that she was only in a bra and jeans, her shirt discarded on the floor. My mind seemed to slow to a crawl and all of the white hot anger I'd just felt dissipated, morphing into something that again, I could not identify but was just as hot and mind consuming as my anger. I continued to study her, noting how the soft light coming from the lone lamp in the room caused her eyes to change to a soft, chocolaty brown and her skin to take on a golden tone. Her hair was softly tousled, falling over her shoulders in thick, dark waves that accentuated the curves of her chest. The black lace bra she was wearing left my mouth dry and intensified whatever it was that was building inside of me. I managed to drag my eyes back up to her face and noticed the blush heating up her cheeks.

"You see something you like?" she asked.

The attitude filling her voice managed to shake me from my stupor and my mouth hardened. "Get dressed."

Quickly, she retrieved her shirt from the ground and put it on. "How'd you find me? You following me to make sure I don't run away?"

"Be quiet," I snapped, not really liking the fact that her guess really wasn't that far off from the truth. I leaned down so that we were at eye level. "A janitor saw you and reported it. Do you have any idea how stupid this was?" A janitor? I should have used a better excuse then that. For her and for myself.

"I know, I know, the whole probation thing, right?"

"Not just that. I'm talking about the stupidity of getting in _that_ kind of situation in the first place."

"I get in _that_ kind of situation all the time, Comrade. It's not a big deal." I could hear anger replace her embarrassment. Her tone bothered me but what she had said bothered me even more, and I wasn't talking about the dumb nickname. I managed to play it off that way though so she wasn't able to tell.

"Stop calling me that. You don't even know what you're talking about."

"Sure I do. I had to do a report on Russia and the R.S.S.R last year."

"_U_.S.S.R. And it _is_ a big deal for a Moroi to be with a dhampir girl. They like to brag."

"So?"

"_So_?" I couldn't believe how she seemed to care less about her reputation. "So don't you have any respect? Think about Lissa. You make yourself look cheap. You live up to what a lot of people already think about dhampir girls, and it reflects back on her. And me."

"Oh, I see. Is that what this is about? Am I hurting your big, bad male pride? Are you afraid I'll ruin your reputation?"

"My reputation is already made, Rose. I set my standards and lived up to them long ago. What you do with yours remains to be seen." My voice hardened when I added, "Now get back to your room-if you can manage it without throwing yourself at someone else."

"Is that your subtle way of calling me a slut?"

"I hear the stories the guys tell. I've heard stories about you." It angered me to hear them talk about her as if she was just a piece of meat, as if she didn't matter. Every time I heard something it would only upset me more, and I hated to hear about her being talked about like that. It disappointed me too because I know she's better than that. When we practiced, I could see she had a huge amount of potential and to find her doing things like this was disappointing.

She didn't say anything for a minute, but I could see that what I'd said affected her. Her eyes shone and she blinked a few times as if she were holding back tears.

"Why is it wrong to…I don't know, have fun? I'm seventeen, you know. I should be able to enjoy it."

It wasn't fair, the double standard society had given to girls. A guy could be with as many girls as he wanted and be considered a stud, but if the roles were reversed a girl would be considered a slut. Rose had it the worst though, having those standards and also having the many responsibilities of a dhampir training to become a guardian.

I kept my voice firm so I could get my point across but I softened the tone a bit, hoping to convey that I understood how she felt. "You're seventeen, and in less than a year, someone's life and death will be in your hands. If you were human or Moroi, you could have fun. You could do things other girls could."

"But you're saying I can't."

I glanced away, traveling back to another time and place. "When I was seventeen, I met Ivan Zeklos. We weren't like you and Lissa, but we became friends, and he requested me as his guardian when I graduated. I was the top student in my school. I paid attention to everything in my classes, but in the end, it wasn't enough. That's how it is in this life. One slip, one distraction…" I sighed, thinking of all of the "what ifs" I still voiced in my mind. "And it's too late."

"Jesse's a Zeklos," Rose said quietly.

"I know." It had startled me when he'd managed to tell me his name, but looking back I could see the family resemblance in the blue eyes and his facial features.

"Does it bother you? Does he remind you of Ivan?"

Not wanting to be reminded of the pain of my lost friend anymore, I said, "It doesn't matter how I feel. It doesn't matter how any of us feel."

"But it does bother you." Her eyes searched mine as she studied me. "You hurt. Every day. Don't you? You miss him."

Her intuitive observation surprised me and caught me a little off guard, but I quickly hid my feelings before she could uncover anything else about me or how I felt. "It doesn't matter how I feel. _They_ come first. Protecting them."

I could see her turning that over in her mind. "Yeah. They do."

A long silence fell between us.

I said, "You told me you want to fight, to _really_ fight. Is that still true?"

"Yes. Absolutely."

"Rose…I can teach you, but I have to believe you're dedicated. Really dedicated. I can't have you distracted by things like this." I gestured around us at the lounge, indicating what had happened between her and Jesse. I looked back to her, saying, "Can I trust you?"

"Yes. I promise." I couldn't read the emotion behind her words, that were filling her eyes but I believed her all the more for whatever it was I saw there.

"All right. I'll teach you, but I need you strong. I know you hate the running, but it really is necessary. You have no idea what Strigoi are like. The school tries to prepare you, but until you've seen how strong they are and how fast…well, you can't even imagine. So I can't stop the running and the conditioning. If you want to learn more about fighting, we need to add more trainings. It'll take up more of your time. You won't have much left for your homework or anything else. You'll be tired. A lot."

I could see her thinking about it. Then she looked at me and said, "It doesn't matter. If you tell me to do it, I'll do it."

I studied her hard, seeing the stubbornness on her face and I wondered if she would really be ready to fully commit herself. I looked deeper, passed the stubbornness and I could see the same fire of determination building in her that I had inside myself.

_She'll do_ I thought. Giving her a sharp nod I said, "We'll start tomorrow."


End file.
